Safe and Bound
by The Fairie Queen
Summary: Edgar gives Alma a new toy, and Alma convinces Yuu to try a game. Childhood fluff.


**A/N:** Prompt 2 from Tumblr, for "I'm stuck, I'm stuck!" Here's some adorable childhood yuulma for your aching souls - happy reading! ^^

 _ **Safe and Bound**_

"Alma, _go away_."

Alma pouted, his large blue eyes puppy-like and pleading. "But, Yuu, Edgar gave me this toy and I don't want to play with it alone!"

Yuu pulled the covers over his head. Technically, it wasn't _that_ late, but the day had been long and the tests painful. It had been earlier that he and Alma had to undergo them, but Yuu was worn out. He didn't even know how Alma had the energy to stay to annoyingly _perky_.

"Play with it by yourself. I'm tired," Yuu responded, his voice muffled from underneath the blankets. God, it was so soft and _warm_ being curled up like that-

The sheets were ripped off of Yuu, and he was instantly shrouded in cool air. Yuu shot up, glaring viciously at Alma. "What the _hell!?_ Why are you such an obnoxious brat all the time!?"

Alma held the sheets away from Yuu. "I'll give them back," He spoke, before smiling at Yuu innocently, " _After_ you try this new toy with me."

Yuu glowered at Alma. Alma _knew_ that Yuu hated being cold – he hated being cold, and being uncomfortable. And now Alma was _exploiting_ that weakness of all things.

The scientists may have thought that Yuu was a demon in disguise, but the idiots clearly had been misled.

Ultimately, Yuu wouldn't give up his sheets. He didn't want to fight Alma though, only because there was the risk of tearing them and _that_ wouldn't go over well if Twi found out (Yuu and Alma had fought before where sheets got involved – following that incident, Twi had threatened to leave the boys with torn sheets next time). Since it was Twi making the threat and not Edgar, Yuu didn't want to chance it.

Yuu really hated Alma in that moment.

Growling, Yuu swung his feet over the edge of the bed. "Fine!" He huffed, before crossing his arms over his chest. "What's the stupid toy that Edgar gave you?"

Alma sat on the edge of his bed (next to the bundle of Yuu's sheets, Yuu noticed with annoyance) and swung his legs. He pulled out a relatively small object that looked like a cylinder, though the texture was braided with some kind of red and white fiber.

Yuu was immediately unimpressed. "That's it?"

Alma looked up at Yuu excitedly, and nodded. "Yeah! Edgar said it's called a Chinese finger trap!" Alma explained, before he looked at the small, tube-like object with slight confusion. "Except Edgar said he didn't know if it was actually invented by the Chinese – I guess there's some confusion over that for some reason."

Yuu frowned. "So why is it called a Chinese finger trap if it isn't even Chinese? That's dumb," Yuu muttered. He didn't see the appeal in this object, or what its history was. Alma probably did since Alma seemed to ask about every single place outside of the lab, and was always asking Edgar to borrow books. Personally, Yuu hated reading.

Alma shrugged. "I don't know. But it sounds fun! You just put your fingers in, and have to get them out."

"So…you put your fingers in that thing. And just pull them out?" Yuu asked, with slight hesitancy. If that was all the "toy" required, then it was probably the most boring toy Yuu had ever heard of. Why would anyone even bother to mess with such a pointless trinket?

Then again, if that was _all_ that Yuu had to do to get his sheets back…

"Okay," Yuu spoke, "So…I just put my fingers in, and I can have my sheets back after right?"

Alma blinked, and looked at the finger trap. "Well, I was thinking it'd be more fun if we each put a finger in. Edgar said there was a trick to it, but I feel like it'd be too easy if I just did it by myself."

Yuu rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just let me stick my finger in the stupid thing already."

"Wow, you sound _so_ excited."

"Look, it's a freakin' paper cylinder! Now do you want me to do it or not?"

Alma sighed, knowing that it was probably close to impossible for Yuu to genuinely be excited about anything. Well, Alma could settle – at least Yuu was participating in the little toy's game. "Okay, let me come over there," Alma said, getting off of his bed and hopping onto Yuu's. He then slipped his finger into one end of the finger trap, before holding it up and smiled. "Your turn!"

Yuu glanced at the strange little toy, but only hesitated for a second for popping his finger into the cylinder.

Well, that was anticlimactic.

Yuu exhaled impatiently. "So…do we have to wait for anything, or can we take our fingers out now? Because this game is _really_ lame."

Alma scrunched up his nose, with a hint of disappointment in his face. "I guess…"

Somewhat relieved that Alma wasn't arguing any further (though Yuu actually felt a little bad hearing how disappointed Alma sounded – not that he would ever admit to it), Yuu tugged his finger. He frowned when the object seemed to cling even more to his finger.

Yuu pulled one more time, before he finally just tried to jerk his finger out of the cylinder.

Alma immediately was thrown off balance. "Hey, don't do that!" Alma exclaimed, not knowing _why_ Yuu was pulling so hard.

A confused frown was on Yuu's face. "My finger isn't coming out!" He snapped, as he tried to pull again.

"Stop pulling so much!" Alma retorted, before looking at the finger trap. "Maybe my side will work better-"

Alma tried to pull his finger out as he said this, but his expression fell when he realized his finger was _not_ getting out of the trap. For a moment, Alma actually looked nervous. "Yuu, I'm stuck, I'm stuck!"

"We're _both_ stuck, moron!"

"I'm not a moron!"

"You're a moron for making me play this dumb game!"

Alma pouted, then looked away. "We're probably stuck like this because you're playing wrong…."

Yuu whipped his head in Alma's direction. " _What_? How am _I_ playing wrong? You told me all I had to do was put my finger in and pull it out! Maybe _you're_ doing something wrong!"

Alma's cheeks flushed, and Yuu wasn't sure if it was because Alma wanted to tell or cry. Yuu really hoped it wasn't the latter – he _hated_ it when Alma cried. It was gross and annoying and it made Yuu feel terrible.

Fortunately for Yuu, it didn't seem that Alma was going to cry. He looked upset though, which made Yuu a little worried. Except Yuu _shouldn't_ have worried – this was all Alma's fault, anyways.

Alma remained quiet though, and Yuu scowled. He glared down at the finger trap. "This sucks…"

Alma bit his lip, and averted his gaze. "Maybe we should ask Edgar for help…"

Yuu immediately felt his cheeks heat up. "No way, I'm not walking out there like this! We look stupid!"

Hearing this, Alma's expression turned into a frown. He looked genuinely offended. "We don't look _that_ stupid!"

Yuu turned his head away from Alma, huffing silently. He hated being stuck like this. He should have just gone to bed cold. It probably would have been less trouble than having his finger connected to Alma's.

Alma was also looking away, and for a moment things were quiet. Alma soon broke the silence. "I should have never asked you to play this with me…" He muttered, words oddly quiet.

Yuu snorted. "Then why did you? It's not like I wanted to."

"Because you're my only friend here…"

The words spilled out softly, so much that it immediately registered to Yuu as uncharacteristic for Alma. Yuu's eyes flickered over in Alma's direction, where he say Alma sitting in a slumped posture, clearly dejected for one reason or another.

Yuu immediately felt a pang of guilt. Alma really irritated him, and was clingy and obnoxious, and sometimes he whined _a lot_ , but…Yuu still felt badly when Alma got upset. He hadn't in the beginning – Yuu hadn't cared before. Alma was just some little creep that always stalked Yuu, trailing around him like some lost little animal. Some _lonely_ little animal.

Silently, Yuu looked off to the corner of the mattress. Looking at Alma suddenly felt difficult.

"I'm sorry I made you play this. I'll figure out how to get it off," Alma spoke up again, voice still quiet.

"It's fine," Yuu responded, still looking away. He couldn't tell if he felt more agitated from Alma's downtrodden tone, or how that Alma's downtrodden tone made Yuu feel like a horrible person. "It's not that bad being stuck like this…"

Alma looked at Yuu, and appeared somewhat caught off guard by his words. However, Alma didn't comment on them and glanced over to where his own mattress was. "Um…do you want your sheets back?"

Yuu scoffed lightly. "It's not like I can go to bed when we're still stuck like this…" He responded, before noticing how chilly it felt in the room. He fought the urge to shiver. "But yeah."

Alma nodded, before hopping off the bed. Yuu noticed that Alma was careful not to pull him along too abruptly, and thankfully their beds were close enough to each other that Alma just had to step in-between them to grab the sheets. He then hopped back onto Yuu's mattress as he innocently tossed the sheets onto Yuu.

"Mmfph," Yuu mumbled, as the sheets hit him in the face. He pulled them down. "Ugh, you didn't have to toss them on my _face_."

Alma's lips quirked upward, and he giggled. "Sorry," He apologized, before his expression turned a little somber once more. "Um…so what do we do about going to bed if we can't get this off?"

Yuu froze. He wasn't sure how to answer. "Uh….I don't know," He responded lamely, looking away. Well, there was the _obvious_ option of just sharing someone's bed that night, but for whatever reason that choice made Yuu feel weird. Not necessarily in a bad way, but…definitely weird. He didn't know why.

"Oh," Alma said, before looking off to the side. He seemed to be thinking about something, but was hesitating on vocalizing his thoughts – which was strange for Alma.

After a moment, Alma got enough bravery to speak up. "Well…we could share a bed tonight. I mean just until we get this thing off…"

Yuu felt himself stiffen. Well, now that Alma had _said_ the suggestion out loud it was difficult for Yuu to think of a reason to shoot it down. Anyways, Yuu and Alma slept next to each other already, so sharing a bed shouldn't have been a bit deal, right?

"Yeah, I guess that'll work," Yuu answered with a shrug.

Alma's eyes seemed to brighten a little. "Okay!" He chirped. "Do you want to go to bed now?"

Yuu blinked. "Um, sure."

The next few moments felt a bit awkward, primarily because the two boys had their fingers in the toy trap still. Yuu also just wasn't used to sharing his mattress with anyone – they weren't large mattresses to begin with, and were more narrow. Since Yuu and Alma were still children, it wasn't too difficult to fit together – although, they did have to lie rather closely.

Then, there came the awkward silence. It was a little odd since Alma normally chatted more, but he seemed to be more quiet than normal. Yuu didn't particularly mind, although he did still feel a bit cold. Even with the sheets, it was hard for him not to shiver. Usually, the sheets were enough to keep warm, but that night it seemed that the temperature in the room was just lower than normal.

Alma turned his head in Yuu's direction. "Are you cold?"

Before Yuu could answer, he suddenly felt warmth beside him. Immediately, he recognized the warmth as Alma's body.

"There," Alma murmured, sounding sleepy. "Does that feel better?"

Yuu nodded. He suddenly felt more comfortable than he had seconds prior, and with that comfort followed sleepiness. "Yeah…"

Alma smiled. "Good," He spoke, before resting his body against Yuu's.

Yuu was too tired to stiffen or go rigid at that point. Usually, he hated Alma being clingy and all over him. He hated Alma getting too close. It was intrusive and aggravating. It made Yuu angry.

But, for whatever reason, Kanda didn't mind that night. He didn't mind the feeling of warmth beside him, and he didn't mind the deep sleep he fell into either.

* * *

The next morning, Yuu woke up to a body lying against his. Sleepily, he blinked his eyes open.

That was right – Alma. Alma had pressured Yuu into trying some silly toy that had gotten their fingers stuck together.

Yuu fought the urge to groan. That stupid Chinese finger trap. How were they going to get it off? Yuu wiggled his finger, expecting to feel the tug that connected him to Alma, when-

Yuu's eyes widened, and he sat up in bed. He pulled back his hand, and saw that there was no more finger trap.

Somewhat bewildered, Yuu lifted the sheets, wondering where the little toy had gone. Sure enough, it was there on the mattress just in-between his body and Alma's.

Yuu picked up the toy, just as Alma shifted in bed. Alma yawned, before rubbing his eyes. "Yuu, when did you wake up…? Did you have one of those dreams again…?"

Yuu shook his head. "No, but that stupid toy of yours came off," He grumbled, before tossing the finger trap at Alma. "I don't know _how_ , but never put that shit on me again."

Alma blinked, waking up a little more upon registering Yuu's words. "It came off? _Really_?"

Yuu gave Alma a deadpan expression. "Well how the hell are you moving that hand so freely?"

Alma glanced at his hand – the one he had used to rub his eye – before realizing that was also the hand that he had gotten stuck to Kanda's. "Oh."

"Oh my ass. Don't _ever_ ask me to play that again – I have no idea how it came off while we were asleep, so I don't want to risk it."

Alma's expression faltered. "Aw, I thought you said being stuck together wasn't that bad…"

Yuu stiffened. "Don't get any ideas – this whole sharing beds was a one time thing!"

Alma grew defensive. "I wasn't getting any ideas!"

"Tch. Sure you weren't."

A knock at the door came, distracting both boys before the door slid open. Both Alma and Yuu turned, and were immediately faced with a slightly confused looking Dr. Edgar.

Edgar looked at both boys, who were sitting in Yuu's bed. "Did you two sleep in the same bed?" Edgar asked, his tone innocently curious.

Yuu's face heated up. "No," He answered immediately, while Alma tried to stifle a giggle.

A hint of amusement appeared in Edgar's eyes, though he didn't comment any further on it. Instead, he spotted the Chinese finger trap and smiled. "Oh, I see you two were messing with the finger trap. Did you figure out how it works?"

Yuu and Alma exchanged some slightly lost glances before shaking their heads. "Um…we're not sure how we got it off…" Alma finally spoke up, sounding uncertain.

Edgar seemed a little surprised. "Really? I mean, the trick is you're supposed to push together instead of pull a part. Pulling apart causes the braided fibers to tighten, but pressing closer will free your fingers."

"Oh…" Alma said. He glanced at Yuu, then back to Edgar and smiled. "That makes sense."

Yuu looked at Alma skeptically.

Edgar smiled. "You boys should put on some more clothes. It's chilly this morning," He advised, before making a move to leave the room. "I'll see you two in a bit."

Once Edgar was gone, there was a slightly awkward silence between Yuu and Alma.

It was broken when Yuu literally kicked Alma off the bed.

Alma groaned, rubbing his behind as he sat up on the floor. Yuu was sitting on the edge of the bed, arms crossed and scowling at Alma.

"We are _never_ playing with that stupid toy ever again."

Alma just laughed. "Okay."

Then, Yuu laughed too.

* * *

 **A/N:** You know this was how those nightly cuddles began.

Not going to lie though - every time I wrote one of them saying "stick my finger in it" my mind went somewhere very dirty. XD #SorryNotSorry


End file.
